'Our Patience With Terrorism Has Been Exhausted'

The outgoing Pakistan High Commissioner Mr. Ashraf Jehangir Qazi made a courtesy call on the ForeignSecretary this afternoon, which lasted for half an hour. During the meeting the opportunity was utilized byForeign Secretary Mrs. Iyer to convey our disappointment that this meeting was taking place under the presentcircumstances and that Pakistan's current approach towards India and its reliance on violence and terrorism isunacceptable.

It was mentioned to High Commissioner Qazi that our leadership had taken several significant initiatives toput bilateral relations on a path that would lead to peace and friendship and cooperation between the twocountries and that achieving this objective had been the common strand that underlined all our initiativeswhether they were the composite dialogue initiatives or the Lahore and Agra Summit level meetings.

We stated that once Pakistan's leadership is able to discern the obvious benefits of a peaceful andcooperative relationship with India and it gives up the path of violence then a climate conducive for goodneighbourly ties could be established. But time and our experience have proved otherwise. Our feeling is thatthe problem lies in the basic attitude of compulsive hostility towards India that we see coming from Pakistanand its unwillingness to give up the path of violence as reflected in the continued sponsorship of crossborder terrorism.

It was conveyed to Mr. Qazi that the December 13 attack of the Parliament was a watershed in terms of thesentiment and the anger among our political leadership and the Indian people. The feeling today is thattolerance for terrorism has only encouraged more terrorist violence. Over the last number of days we have seena number of statements emanating from the Pakistani side including from their High Commissioner here and it isour feeling that Pakistan is still trying to ignore the mood and the determination of this country to fightterrorism. and therefore it was felt necessary to reiterate our considered position on these issues to thePakistan High Commissioner today.

We also mentioned that it is quite clear from the response that is emanating from the internationalcommunity that nobody is prepared to believe or to accept the Pakistan Government's denial of involvement incross border terrorism in India. This is reflected in several comments appearing in the international mediaand as well as private and public comments emanating from different governments.

There is a consensus today in the international community that the so called crackdown announced onterrorists following President Musharraf's January 12 speech has been rolled back and this roll back and thecosmetic nature of the measures announced after January 12 have been extensively discussed in various sectionsof the media and various quarters of international public opinion. We have seen that a large number of theterrorist cadres who were arrested have been released. Terrorist leaders reportedly under "arrest"continue to function and direct their cadres and training camps have been relocated or have been reopened.

Therefore the true intentions as far as the pursuit of terrorism and terrorist strategies are concernedhave become apparent to all. Similarly we find Pakistan's argument on the lack of evidence completelyuntenable. The Interpol red corner notices issued against most of the individuals figuring on the listprovide, we believe, the Pakistan Government with adequate basis to take actions against these criminal andterrorists.

It is unfortunate that Pakistan has chosen not to act on the basis of that information and we are afraidthat such obfuscatory arguments as have been used by Pakistan further indicate that country's true intentions.It was once again conveyed that Pakistan would have to end cross border terrorism. It would be incorrect toview the current situation merely in terms of an attempt by India to, and here I will use the words used byHigh Commissioner Qazi, "ratchet up tensions". It is not to be viewed in that context.

Our patience with terrorism has been exhausted. Since December 13 the steps that we have taken to deal withthe situation that confronts us have been measured, they have been gradual. No one in India takes thepossibility of war lightly. Similarly Pakistan should have no illusions about the fact that the state of Jammuand Kashmir is and will be an integral part of India. We remain committed to the path of dialogue. Pakistan'scontinued sponsorship of cross border terrorism is a clear indication to us that Pakistan is not yet preparedto engage in substantive and meaningful dialogue with India or to establish normal state to state relations.

Did Pakistan High Commissioner say anything to Foreign Secretary?
I don't think there was anything new in what he had to convey to us. You have seen the ventilation ofPakistan's opinion - and as is usual one sees this through the media - and these points were basically, allthat Pakistan has had to say on the subject.

When is he leaving Delhi?
He is leaving on Saturday.

There is a statement from the US that it still trusts in General Musharraf. What do you have to say aboutthat?
The basic point we have sought to make as far as the world community is concerned is that Pakistan has torealize that it cannot engage in cross border terrorism while claiming to be fighting terrorism vis-à-visAfghanistan and we hope that in the days to come, there will be a clear enunciation of this position by theworld community also.

But the fact is that the US is still trusting Musharraf…
I think you will have to read the full text. There is an obvious recognition I believe and that is shared byall sections of world opinion and by a number of countries including the United States that PresidentMusharraf of Pakistan has to do much more to tackle the issue, the scourge of cross border terrorism.

State Department's report on terrorism. Are you satisfied with the report?
As far as the tackling of the issue of terrorism is concerned the fact is that India has battled this scourgefor over 2 decades now. I think the world community, every section of the world community is fully cognizantof the efforts that we have made to fight terrorism, to root out the activities of the terrorist groups, andthe very legitimate struggle that we are waging against the forces of cross border terrorism. I think that isrecognized whether it is in South Asia or in the region or whether it is in the world at large.

You mentioned that India's patience with terrorism has been exhausted. What will be the next step?
Well, it has been exhausted… obviously we will not be able to tell you what the next step is. But obviouslythe efforts that we are continuing to make, to sensitize world opinion to our case have not been exhausted. Wewill continue to make those efforts.

But as far as the defence of our vital interests is concerned and you have heard our Prime Minister'sspeech at Kupwara today, I think we have made it very clear to the world community where we stand on thisissue and the fact that the whole nation is united against terrorism. Our war against terrorism is just aslegitimate as any other country's war against terrorism.

There is justice, there is legitimacy in our position and I believe that the world is increasinglyrecognizing that. We have seen how the 12th January commitment made by the Pakistan Government has not beenimplemented and our assessment is that infiltration and sponsorship of terrorist acts, attempts to disrupt andsabotage the return to peace and normalcy and holding of elections in Jammu and Kashmir, these are all itemson the agenda of forces arrayed against India across our border and we have to be vigilant to it and we havetold the world community that we have every right to defend our interests in response to this situation.

The sense of anger in this country, the unanimous resolution that was adopted by Parliament recently, theyall point to this depth of opinion, to the united approach of this country to resist the forces of terrorism.As a democratic nation we cannot be expected to countenance this sort of situation indefinitely.

Was there any high level contact with other countries since yesterday?
The External Affairs Minister Shri Jaswant Singh spoke to the Russian Foreign Minister Mr. Igor Ivanov lastevening. The subject of the discussion as you may have guessed was the current situation along our borders,the relationship with Pakistan and we have conveyed our concerns and our perspective to the Russian side andyou must have seen the press release issued by the Russian Foreign Office today which refers to thatconversation.

The Russian release refers to the fact that special attention was devoted to the situation in South Asia,where a sharp growth of tension has been observed lately in the wake of the actions by the terrorists based inPakistan controlled territory.